>HABIBOLLAH LATIFI THE IRANIAN KURDISH STUDENT WILL BE EXECUTED ON SUNDAY 26 DECEMBER – TAKE ACTION TO HELP HIM

Habibillah Latifi is a 29 years old Kurdish Iranian student who has been sentenced to death following judiciary proceedings that were not in compliance with the international standards of justice since he was repeatedly tortured and was deprived from having his lawyer present in the court room.

We call upon all those who believe in justice and human rights to not remain in silence and help Habibollah by asking the international organizations and the Vatican (since we are in Christmas period) to take action to save life of Habibollah Latifi.

To do this we ask you to send the following text to the following organizations:

Subject: Urgent Appeal – Iranian-Kurd Habibollah Latifi will be executed on December 26th

Your Excellency,

I write to you out of deep concern on behalf of 29-year-old Kurdish minority Habibollah Latifi who is reported to be scheduled for execution on December 26, 2010.

He was arrested in October of 2007 and detained in Sanandaj prison. His trial was held behind closed doors which neither his family, nor his lawyer, were allowed to attend. His death sentence, issued in 2008, was upheld by the Appeal Court in Sanandaj on 18 February 2009. Amnesty International (AI) continues to emphasize that Habibollah is in imminent risk of execution, and has urged Iranian authorities to commute his sentence.

Habibollah Latifi is reported to be in poor physical condition due to torture. He has endured and continues to suffer from bronchitis, breathing problems, broken bones, kidney failure, and torture wounds. Despite these various medical conditions, he has been denied proper medical care.

There are dozens of other religious and ethnic minority prisoners of conscience, mostly from the Kurdish, Baluch, and Arab minorities, who remain on death row today. I understand and recognize the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice, in conformity with international standards of fair trial, to those suspected of criminal offences.

However, the judiciary system in Iran has been reinterpreting rules and applying severe punishments, including execution, for activities that are not even considered crimes under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which Iran is a signatory. (The specific articles neglected are 10, 18, 19, and 20.)

The IRI’s record of imposing the death penalty is among the worst in the world. With a court system that lacks independence, and is more than ever now under the control of intelligence and security forces, fair trials cannot be guaranteed.

Many death sentences, including Habibollah Latifi’s, appear to be politically motivated and with a predetermined outcome rather than the result of a fair trial by an independent court, as guaranteed under international law.

Please, do everything in your power to urge the IRI to commuteHabibollah’s politically motivated death sentence. With the integrity of international human rights standards at stake, I plead that you and your government to work with the international community and to use your influence to put an immediate stop to the inhumane use of the death penalty in Iran and save the life of Habibollah Latifi.